Aliaswire, a provider of bill payment and credit solutions for businesses and banks, today announced the general availability of a new Multi-Payer capability in its DirectBiller platform for property management.

Offered exclusively through bank partners, DirectBiller equips property managers to offer custom-branded billing and payment experiences to their clients. The new Multi-Payer feature enables residents in the same household to log in separately to make payments against their shared account including rent, dues, service fees, security deposits and more. They can also see their payments posted in real-time. The new offering encourages on-time payments while also streamlining administrative tasks for property managers and their finance staff.

Covid drove a surge in demand for digital bill pay capabilities as paper-based methods created significant friction for both commercial and residential transactions, slowing payment cycles and creating unnecessary manual work. Tenants have been looking for convenient, contactless payment options, and property managers needed the ability to manage inbound payments remotely and to accelerate payment cycles.  

“The monthly bill pays experience is typically the most frequent touchpoint property managers have with their tenants,” said Jed Rice, CEO at Aliaswire. “Providing easier ways to pay rent and fees can make a big difference in tenant satisfaction and on-time payments. With DirectBiller, property managers can offer that modern convenience while also gaining much greater control of the payment, settlement and reconciliation process for each property.”

DirectBiller manages the entire end-to-end process from tenant invoicing through payment reconciliation integrating with property management firms’ ERP systems and their banks’ treasury management systems. It also offers tenants a variety of convenient modern payment methods including web, mobile, Text2Pay, CSR and IVR.  

In addition to the new Multi-Payer capability, other key features in DirectBiller for Property Management include:

• Support for Multiple Properties - DirectBiller can support individual properties as separate entities and link each one to the corporate entity. Reporting can be viewed at the individual property level and consolidated at the corporate level. Each property can have:

• Unique payment website
• Funds settled into unique deposit accounts
• Separate tender type choices (ACH + Card, ACH-only, Card Only)
• Separate payment fee rules (Card + Fee and Free ACH)
• Separate bill and reconciliation files
• Controlled CSR access
• Consolidated Payments on One Site - Property managers can have a single payment site for multiple properties.  This site provides one selection of tender types and fee rules, and property managers can receive one consolidated reconciliation file. DirectBiller can settle funds into multiple deposit accounts, selected by the tenant at time of payment. The payer chooses from a drop-down feature to indicate the property and type of payment (rent, dues, fees, etc.).
• Payment Control - This feature ensures timely payments by controlling when payments can and can't be made, simplifying monthly reconciliation efforts.

A new whitepaper issued by The Payments Association, (previously the Emerging Payments Association or EPA), aims to become a how-to guide to ethical and sustainable growth (ESG) for the FinTech industry.

As Sustainability Superheroes: a how-to guide to ESG for FinTechs highlights, the rules of business are changing. While in previous decades the single goal of business leaders has been to maximise shareholder returns, new paradigms such as ESG and stakeholder capitalism mean that a balance must be struck between profits and other concerns that fall under the rubric of ‘sustainability’.

Rather than simply admonishing companies to become more sustainable, the report offers advice, inspiration and real-world best practices from leading ‘sustainability superheroes’, including Charlie Bronks, SVP, Head of ESG at Crown Agents Bank, Irene Perez, Head Of Marketing at Gain The Lead and Jim Colvine, Senior Vice President, Priceless Planet at Mastercard. Case studies from major companies like Mastercard, FIS and Algbra demonstrate how varied companies have addressed sustainability in their business.

The project is anchored in data from The Payment Association’s members on their own ESG priorities, and this data shows that the industry is making significant progress towards embracing sustainable practices and ethical goals:

• Over 90% of companies measure progress towards gender equity
• 80% consider the social justice impacts of their products and services
• 60% seek to reduce waste from their supply chain
• 60% have identified their ESG stakeholders and prioritised them

Of course, the definition of sustainability varies widely and ethical goals are hard to pin down (maximising shareholder returns is arguably an ethical commitment, for example), but the results show that the FinTech industry is making major strides toward integrating these ideas into its day-to-day operations.

Tony Craddock, Director General at The Payments Association, comments: “We are extremely proud to be releasing this report at a time when the industry at large is fully embracing ESG goals. Now more than ever before, people want to make more environmentally sustainable decisions and that extends to the brands they do business with. We’re pleased our report not only outlines the ways in which companies can become more ethical and sustainable, but also that it shows that the majority of companies have already started down that path.”

Jim Colvine, Senior Vice President, Priceless Planet at Mastercard, says: ‘Increasingly, people are recognising that the things we produce, buy, and consume matters to our planets’ environment. COVID-19 only heightened these concerns, and now more than ever people want to make a positive, sustainable impact on the world.”

He adds: “It’s extremely encouraging to see the fintech industry recognise this. With most companies already showing that they’re on a path towards being more environmentally and ethically focused, it’s clear that progress is being made. At Mastercard, we’re making headway by having a robust portfolio of environmentally friendly solutions, including our Carbon Calculator, developed with Swedish fintech Doconomy, which makes it easy for consumers to understand their carbon footprint, and our Sustainability Innovation Lab brings together innovators and customers to design climate-conscious digital solutions. It's our responsibility as an industry to meet the expectations of our consumers and ensure sustainable goals are being set and met, for the planet’s sake.”

To download a copy of the report, please visit: https://bit.ly/3aMVS4o

Viva Capital Funding, LLC ("Viva"), a leading invoice factoring speciality finance company, announced today the closing of $18.5 million of Senior Secured Notes to a group of institutional investors. The transaction was assigned a BBB rating by a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization. Proceeds will be used by the company to restructure existing debt and support additional growth of the business. 

"This financing positions Viva to tackle new markets and take the next step in our growth plans," said President, Greg DiDonna. "We have purchased over $1 billion in receivables and more than doubled our revenue over the last 5 years.  This new capital will allow us to continue to provide financing to our small business clients and expand our market share."

Michael Marshall, Director of Finance at Viva, added, "This transaction streamlines our capital structure and reduces our cost of capital to support capitalizing on new business opportunities available to Viva in today's market."

Brean Capital, LLC served as the Company's Exclusive Financial Advisor and Placement Agent on the transaction.

About Viva Capital Funding, LLC:
Viva Capital Funding, LLC is a speciality finance company providing simple, fast and reliable financing solutions across a diverse range of industries throughout the United States. Headquartered in El Paso, TX, the Company offers factoring, reverse factoring and land banking services while maintaining the highest standard of performance, ethics and integrity. With over 100 years of combined finance and accounting experience, Viva's team has funded over $1 billion in the transportation industry alone since inception.

Bybit, one of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges in the world, launched today its first-ever Bear Market Guide, an educative resource to help investors navigate through the volatile times that cryptocurrencies and equity markets are facing, overcoming the turbulence by researching and potentially taking advantage of possibilities to stay ahead of the bear market.

Featuring a contemporary design that draws inspiration from popular culture, the guide shares a pool of resources that can help investors put the bear market situation into perspective. Conceptualized and written by an in-house team of experts and researchers, it analyzes current trends and identifies similarities and differences with previous bear markets to help users determine strategies and opportunities to level up during the current market conditions.

What to Do in a Crypto Bear Market?

Bybit's Bear Market Guide aims to address questions that traders might have, from tips/tricks for newbies to offering a macro analysis of the bear market and reviewing key takeaways of previous bear market experiences.

As investors ponder their next move, Bybit's Bear Market Guide shares valuable insights on the importance of trading with more discipline and strategies that can help manage their overall risk and portfolio. It covers the importance of diversifying and finding products that feature safe, predictable yield payments periodically. Cryptocurrencies are still advancing at great speed, despite market downturns, so a solid trading strategy and patience are fundamental during this passage.

Earn While the Market Is Trending Downward

During a bear run in crypto, reliable yield-generating products may allow users to boost long-term portfolio value and help reduce the tendency to fixate on fluctuating prices. To that effect, Bybit's Bear Market Guide will provide insights to users as to how best to leverage the power of yield products to weather the bear market.

Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit said, "As some investors may think that one can only make profits in a bull market while losses await in the bear market, we are unveiling Bybit's Bear Market Guide to provide a resource that shows investors how to read opportunities and develop proper strategies. The main takeaway of this initiative is to provide tools and ideas to investors so they do not need to fear the bear market."

On a mission to support the growing number of young talented entrepreneurs, Wise, a global technology company building the best way to move money around the world, has identified the most promising young founders across Europe. Now in its 5th year, the 20 Under 20 competition helps young entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level.  

The finalists showcased a range of exciting businesses, challenging the status quo in their field through innovative products and solutions —  from tackling issues in the education sector with an exam correction platform to helping older people access better care. A growing year-on-year trend is thinking green and building solutions for a sustainable future, from zero waste cosmetics to bike accessories from recycled materials, designed to encourage a more eco-friendly way of transport. 

This year’s cohort of the most promising young entrepreneurs was chosen by a world-class panel of investors and business experts, including Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Roxanne Varza from Paris’s startup hub Station F, and Terri Duhon, NED and Risk Chair, Morgan Stanley International and Independent NED, Wise.

The winner, 19-year-old Julian Fernández Barcellona was awarded £25,000 for his business, FOSSA Systems, which uses IoT and a satellite network to allow industrial companies to monitor their assets from space.

In addition, 20 Under 20 gave Special Awards to the most promising EdTech, Social Enterprise and Greentech: Pau Pavón for his exam marking platform Examfy, Elis Hodzic for his company HappyLife, the “Airbnb” of healthcare, and Miguel Garcia-Rubio for his zero-waste cosmetics brand.

Several entrepreneurs from the UK featured among the finalists, highlighting its thriving startup scene. Flynn Blackie impressed with his marketing company MOD Digital, James Skipworth presented his data management Saas Cydekik, along with Joseph Johnston of Evolution E-commerce, a sustainable e-commerce platform, and Rory Mclaughlan with Shirt in a Box, a company that sends mystery football shirts to sports lovers. 

Prizes for all talented founders include £1 million worth of fee-free transfers with Wise Business to expand their companies across borders, expert mentoring from world-leading entrepreneurs, investors and experts, and networking with fellow finalists and judges. 
 
Wise co-founder and 20 Under 20 Chairman Taavet Hinrikus said: "This year’s Wise 20 Under 20 shows yet again just how talented today's young entrepreneurs are. They’re driven by social and environmental causes and are building smart solutions to the problems that our world faces. I’d like to especially congratulate our winner Julian, whose satellite constellation business FOSSA Systems has hit many milestones already, and we’re excited to see what comes next for him.

“Though a pan-European competition, a fifth of this year’s finalists come from the UK, exemplifying the creativity and thriving startup scene that the UK is known for. I’m impressed with all of their businesses and have no doubt that they'll thrive as part of the next generation of British success stories." 

Nucleus365, a UK-based payment institution offering a centralised platform for global payment processing, FX and connected banking, has launched to market at Money20/20. Nucleus365 offers an integrated payment solution for merchants seeking to access new and emerging markets.

Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Nucleus365 offers a unified platform for payment processing, back office treasury functions and reconciliation purposes covering banking and acquiring. Nucleus365 can also support IBANs in over 60 currencies via Swift, SEPA and Faster Payments.  

Leveraging next-generation technology, the Nucleus365 platform also gives merchants access to data to monitor customer behaviour. Merchants can generate multiple daily reports, offering total visibility of all payment methods, success rates, settlements, fees and withdrawal data in real-time.

Nucleus365 was founded in 2021, with a team bringing over 25 years of experience in the payment and financial services sectors.  

Sophie Flynn, co-founder of Nucleus365, said: “Our mission is to become a market leader in payment services by offering merchants a single, unified access point. By building local connections and employing sophisticated back-office technology, we ensure merchants can increase their global footprint whilst reducing cross-border fees. 

“Importantly, we want to give our merchants the tools needed to properly understand their own customer bases. This is where deep data comes into play - Nucleus365 offers merchants total visibility across the payment process, ensuring they can monitor customer behaviour in all markets they are operating in. Controlling all parts of the payment flow, Nucleus365 has been designed to process, collect and settle payments within its platform. 

“Over the coming months, Nucleus365 will be striking new banking and acquiring partnerships globally, as well as expanding our network of merchants who will benefit from our unified offering.

“As the demand for enriched data and deep analytics grows, we have positioned Nucleus365 as the go-to, centralised platform for all of our merchants' requirements as we take embedded finance to the next level.”

Plus500, the global multi-asset fintech group, has launched an international advertising campaign starring Kiefer Sutherland, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor, director and singer-songwriter, to elevate its international brand profile amongst the fast-growing trading community.

While Plus500 already spends heavily on online advertising, the new campaign is its biggest investment to date in building its brand and expanding its audience. The advertising has been developed over the past six months by McCann Tech, the technology-focused agency of McCann Worldwide, and uses Sutherland to convey three important features of Plus500’s trading platform: it’s trustworthy, easy to use and offers traders useful market insights.

The campaign marks a significant milestone in the growth of Plus500, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013 and is a member of the FTSE250 index of leading companies. The campaign centres on the idea of “Trading with a Plus,” highlighting the market-leading mobile app that helps customers with information and insights, no matter the extent of their trading experience. With educational materials, risk management tools, and 24-hour customer support, Plus500 allows traders to enhance the skills and confidence they need to navigate a wide variety of market conditions.

Kiefer Sutherland said:

“I am excited to be leading the new global campaign for Plus500, one of the world’s top financial trading platforms. The team at Plus500 have been great partners to work with, and I had a lot of fun shooting the ad with McCann Tech.”

David Zruia, CEO of Plus500, said:

“We’re delighted to be working with Kiefer on the launch of our new advertising campaign. We were looking for a globally recognised brand ambassador who is known for playing characters who exude confidence, trust and experience. Kiefer was a natural fit.

“The growth and success of Plus500 in recent years gives the business a great opportunity to support millions of traders. We are expanding globally, have entered the US and Japanese markets, and will continue to broaden the range of products we offer as part of our mission to become a leading multi-asset fintech group.”

The commercial will run on television, YouTube and on Plus500’s website and social channels. The campaign will also feature on billboards across London, Milan and Sydney.

Plus500 was the fastest-growing trading platform in the UK in 2021[i], and is known for its industry-leading levels of customer satisfaction for services including account funding and withdrawals. In Germany[ii] and Spain[iii] it is the number one provider of instruments known as contracts-for-difference (CFDs) and has the best-rated mobile app.

Plus500’s recent Q1 2022 financial results demonstrate the continued momentum of the business with revenue of $270.9 million, up 68% from $161.1 million in Q4 2021. During the first quarter, the company recorded nearly 34,000 new customers (those making a deposit for the first time), and more than 175,000 active customers (those who made at least one real-money trade). It also recently announced the acquisition of EZ Invest in Japan and became a full clearing firm member of the CME Group exchanges.

About Plus500

Plus500 is a global multi-asset fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading platforms. Plus500 offers customers a range of trading products, including Contracts for Difference (“CFDs”) and share dealing, as well as futures and options on futures.

The Group retains operating licenses and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, the United States, Estonia and the Seychelles and through its CFDs product portfolio, offers more than 2,500 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. Customers of the Group can trade CFDs in more than 50 countries and in 30 languages. Plus500 does not permit customers located in the US to trade CFDs. Plus500 does not utilise cold calling techniques and does not offer binary options.

Plus500’s trading platforms are accessible from multiple operating systems (Windows, iOS and Android) and web browsers. Customer care is and has always been integral to Plus500, as such, CFD customers cannot be subject to negative balances. A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for CFD platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while limiting capital losses.

Plus500 shares have a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PLUS) and are a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. 

Biz2X, a subsidiary of Biz2Credit and the leading online digital lending platform for business lending at banks and financial institutions around the world, announced today that it has been named to American Banker’s list of 2022’s Best Places to Work in Financial Technology. The awards program was created in 2017 and are a project of Arizent and Best Companies Group.

The designation comes at a time when Biz2X, which has grown by 700% in the last 18 months, has been upgraded to handle higher loan volume and to offer increased functionality for the growing number of lenders using the platform. Last week, Biz2X launched a new version of its website to highlight the advantages it offers financial institutions and other lenders around the world that want to increase profitability when offering digital loans to small businesses.

“For our customers, Biz2X technology enables financial institutions to growth their portfolios while benefiting from best-in-class risk assessment tools. We are equally proud of the recognition we have received as a ‘top FinTech workplace’,” said Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Biz2X and Biz2Credit. “Our talented staff has enabled us to serve our growing list of bank and financial institution clients. We are on the cutting edge of fintech thanks to our superiority in data science, technology and customer experience.”

Not only has Biz2X gained a well-earned reputation for its service among its customers, but it also has been consistently lauded by leading FinTech industry experts. Recently, the online lending platform received a silver medal from Fintech Futures’ Banking Tech Awards for its COVID-19 Response providing platform software that enabled dozens of banks to offer PPP loans and COVID relief financing. Biz2X was honoured by IBS intelligence (IBSi) for Best Digital Lending Implementation: Best Adoption of Tools & Governance at the IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards 2021. The awards celebrate the “coolest innovations” in FinTech, according to IBSi. Additionally, Biz2X is a finalist for Best Business Digital Banking Solutions Provider award announced at the 2022 Banking Tech Awards.

HES FinTech has partnered with Nordigen to provide seamless and integrated end-to-end digital lending solutions with multiple financial providers to rejuvenate the existing European financial ecosystem.

HES FinTech is an industry leader that connects financial institutions to intelligent lending platforms that help automate services and increase revenues. HES began in 2012 as a software vendor that would bridge the gap between the old and new worlds of lending through cutting-edge software that reduces operating costs and replaces manual tasks, streamlining front-to-back workflows.

HES is a long-term partner of 160 financial institutions in over 31 countries. They combine industry experience with innovative technologies and empower financial institutions with comprehensive loan management solutions. HES LoanBox, a ready-made lending software product, is a result of this experience. LoanBox covers most lending business processes: from customer onboarding to collections, it enhances the customer experience and provides a perfect out-of-the-box solution to financial institutions. 

The partnership with Nordigen establishes an exciting new chapter in the industry as it allows for collaboration between open banking technology with state-of-the-art loan management software, providing new opportunities in the European market. Removing the hassle of visiting offices and signing papers, the tech-powered solution provides never before seen ease of access in the lending industry. 

“HES FinTech’s partnership with Nordigen is a major step for us, our business customers, and the entire fintech ecosystem in Europe. We believe the integration of open banking technologies with the end-to-end loan management software creates additional opportunities for financial businesses and end-customers and expands horizons in accessible tech-powered lending,” comments Dmitry Dolgorukov, CRO and Co-Founder of HES FinTech.

Nordigen provides an extensive open banking platform that has access to over 2300 banks across Europe through regulated Application Programming Interface (API) connections. This offers the opportunity for seamless aggregation of banking data to users and developers to innovate improved financial services.

Both Dmitry Dolgorukov (HES FinTech CRO and Co-Founder) and Rolands Mesters (Nordigen CEO and Co-founder) are financial market experts, with a long-standing interest in open banking, transforming market trends and digital hurdles. 

“We are delighted to announce this endorsement and partnership with HES FinTech. HES provides excellent market-oriented lending solutions for the digital transformation of loan origination and loan servicing. With this collaboration, we have taken the next step in further integrating their customers into the European financial market and it gives us the opportunity to develop a long-lasting, industry-leading partnership,” says Rolands Mesters, co-founder and CEO of Nordigen.